Late Night Post

Watching TVland's High School reunion right now but I should be sleeping. The people on this show are such train wrecks. Ran at the gym tonight. Still pain free in the leg. Don't understand it but I'll take it. Did 4.01 miles on treadmill with 1.0 incline, 38'04", 9:28min/mi pace. Yesterday I lifted at the gym with Kristen and did 25min on the eliptie. Tomorrow is going to be an off day. Having a delish dinner with college friend Tim.

Night Night.

where have i been?

Long time no post I know. Had a very strange/scary weekend. Thursday I lifted again with Kristen. Nothing unusual, did arms and legs. Finished up with 45 minutes on the treadmill walking at an incline. Friday was off. Saturday I planned on going out for a long run. It was a nicer sunny afternoon so I set off on my longer route wanting to do 6-7 miles. The plan was supposed to be the same as the last longer run, take it easy, stay between 9:30-10. However, I just couldnt seem to slow down. I kept looking at the Garmin and seeing 8:40 or 8:30. I felt amazing, really strong. That was the good part. The bad part was that I seemed to hit every single light. It was also earlier than I usually do this route (ie, daytime) and since the weather was nicer everyone was out. This meant a lot of weaving in and out of people on steinway and other high traffic streets. I dont know if this is what did me in, or if it was me muscularly adjusting to my right foot hurting. --Backing up, I have grotesque feet. Ever since about 21 I've had nasty bunionettes (bunions on the pinky toe side). They flared up badly in college and early working time but for the past two years Ive been basically pain free. That was until this past month when the pain came back like woah, between new years eve when I spent the entire night on my feet in 4.5 inch heels and these boots that i bought, which are flat but must have been too narrow. My right foot has been constantly aching and Sat it seemed worse than normal. I was aware of it aching during the run, which usually it doesnt. --

So anyways, with about a mile to go i noticed some soreness in my left leg. My leg/knee felt heavy, like it was harder to pick up. I ignored it and just pushed through. I had originally planned to run up past my house to the library to pick up some books, but as I was coming up the street to my house the pain was starting to increase and I thought I had better just stop at home, so I did. As soon as I did I had this overwhelming pain in my left knee, on the left side. At this point I was still kinda ignoring it because I was so happy about my run. I basically had broken my 10k race PR. I did 6.26 miles in 56:16, a 9min/mile pace. My avg heart rate during the run was 154bpm. My previous best was a 56:59 at the human race this year. Very happy.

The happyness didn't last long though. I came in limping. Several hours later I couldnt stand on my leg and couldnt bend my knee. It totally killed. I tried soaking in an epsom salt bath and taking ibuprofen. Still horrible pain. Ended up spending the evening on the coach resting my leg and making the bf fetch stuff for me.

Sunday was supposed to be a lifting day with Kristen (to make up for not going Saturday). I opted out though afraid of aggravating the leg. It didnt hurt as bad in the morning but the pain was still there and I was limping around still. Luckily for me, Kristen is an athletic trainer so she came over that night to give me an evaluation. She suggested the pain was from Iband tendonitis, which terrifies me. She told me what stretches to do and gave me this cool ice cup to do ice massage.
Today I woke up and was still sore but not nearly as bad. It was an awful morning due to torrential rain. I wore flip flops at work which made the bunioette foot feel much better. At the end of the day I really didnt have any leg pain at all so I decided to do a test run of 2 miles to see how I felt. I did 2.02mile sin 18:58, or 9:24pace. HR was 142bpm. I was thinking more of 10min mile pace but again I felt really good. I had just mild pain in the foot and really nothing in the knee, which left me so confused. What the hell does this mean? How do you go from excrutiating unable to stand on your leg pain, to absolutely fine within 48 hours?? I dont get it. Im going to be monitoring this closely just in case.

Tomorrow is a lifting day. Signed up for Runners World magazine today.
I've been writing this post since 9pm so its time to sign off.

Quick post tonight. Ran at Gym (on a 1.0 incline). 37'02", 9:13 min pace, 4.01 miles. Ok thats it.

Too tired:(

We belong to the music...

There is nothing like new music to make a run amazing. I downloaded the new Timbaland today and now I have several new songs for my running mix. I hate to admit to it, but the Miley collaboration is my new fav. I was planning on going to the gym to run on the treadmill but it was warmer tonight (40s) and the idea of new running music had me too pumped to run indoors. Headed out at 9:45. I think I watch to much true crime television because of course everyone I saw on the way I thought was going to kidnap and murder me. I guess its good to be a bit on edge and not let your guard down.

Run felt great. Here are the stats:

33:03, 3.74 miles, 8'50" pace, 155bpm
Ipod: 33:42, 3.91 miles, 8'36" pace

Argh I need a real training program. I'm giving myself a week to figure it out.

Meh

Woke up early today to lift with Kristen. Now I'm super sore. Was going to hop on a treadmill to get the days miles in while we were at the gym but I was too shaky from not eating breakfast and it was just too hot in the room. There are huge windows letting in all the sunlight and barely any ventilation. Not to mention a ton of machines all packed in so tight together. I really can't imagine running on the treadmill at this place. Not sure whats going to happen in the future on that one if I need too.

Went home, ate and rested a bit and then went back out for the run. What a beautiful day it was today. After weeks of bitter cold it was almost 50! I went and did my usual loop down by the water. Total of 4.o1 miles in 35'30". 8:52mi/mil, 160bpm avg HR. I felt really good throughout. I was afraid after the lifting my legs would feel like dead weight but they felt good.

I wore black UA tights, grey tshirt, green longsleeved shirt and my green/grey vest.

I just published this post but then I remembered that I forgot to mention the Wii Fit! I finally got one. My aunt has one that my mom and her use and she raves about it same as everyone. After we got the Wii for Xmas this year I knew I wanted to buy one but its been like trying to buy a rare gem or something. They are never in stock! I finally lucked out Friday at work. I was scoping out best buy and they had one available for instore pickup at 62nd st and broadway so I hurried up and bought it. It was a pain carrying it home, since it was much bigger and heavier than I thought. Havent really done much so far, just established myself as a character and did the initial assessment. It told me that my Wii age is 37. Apparently I have horrible balance. Im looking forward to tracking improvements in fitness and weight. Should be fun times.

Judgement Free Zone

Went to the new gym with Kristen tonight. It was already less crowded than a week ago which was great. We lifted on the machines and then went up and did 30 min of cardio. We were both laughing at how non-intimidating it was to lift here. I think I'm going to like this gym.

Im probably going to be sore tomorrow.

Is it really only Wednesday?

Why is this week dragging so much??

Quick update about Chloe- she is fine. We were afraid that she might have FIV or Feline Leukemia but she is negative for both thank god. She apparently has swollen gums which is strange for a cat her age (young). There were multiple potential causes that the vet thought might be causing it, including the bad ones mentioned above. Now its looking like she might have something else which causes cat scratch fever in humans (lol). We find out Friday.

Yesterday was a planned cardio day at the gym but I stayed in instead. My left leg - quad and knee area - was sore from Mondays run. I decided to rest up. The plan was to use the time in to research research research, make a training plan and go to sleep early. None of those was accomplished:( I did look up some training programs but without a specific goal race in mind I didn't nail anything down. I did read something interesting online though, that said if you are training on a treadmill you should have atleast a 1% incline in order to offset the pull of the belt and prevent IT band injuries. I will definitely keep this in mind.

Today I decided to do 6 miles outside. Its still cold here in NYC but I was going out a bit early (8:30) and the thought of a crowded gym really turned me off. I had a really hard time linking to the satelites on the garmin and spent a good 15 minutes shivering outside my house waiting. I wanted this run to be controlled between 9:30-10 min mile pace. I ended up doing 5.86 miles in 55'53", which is 9:32 m/mi pace - perfect. The avg heart rate was 153bpm. Graph info looks steady across, began creeping up during last half. The graph of the pace is hard to view. Ipod got 6.17miles, 9:09 m/mi pace, 56'28". Overall it was a good run. I did my best to relax and go steady, kept reminding myself not to speed it up. It got harder on the back end of the run. Its not through a 'bad' neighborhood per se, but its not the greatest - dark, residential streets, seedy commerical areas, few pedestrians, not so much traffic in parts, near a park, etc etc. Its the kind of run that my mom would get mad at me for running alone. Ive done it in the past and not even felt nervous. And it wasnt like it was thaaat late, but I think combined with the cold fewer people were out and about. But anyways, I felt myself speeding up to hurry up and get back to the neighborhoods I'm more comfortable with. With like 5 min to go I started to get a bit of pain in my hip area, but with stretching afterwards its now feeling ok.
Outfit check - warm nike tights, grey sb, navy UA long sleeved top, grey zip up, gloves, headband. In review, too much dark color for a night run on dark streets. That was silly of me.

Tomorrow the plan is to check out the new gym and do some lifting with Kristen. I havent lifted in forever. I'm excited about getting back into it.

In exciting running related news, I decided to definitely go to the Millrose Games this month. I can't wait. Buying tickets tomorrow.

Thats it for now, goodnight!

I should really be sleeping instead of writing

Sunday was a cross training day, did 30 minutes of cardio on the elliptical at the gym.
Today (ie Monday) went to the gym and did 5 miles on the treadmil at what I was hoping was a relaxed pace. Ipod recorded 5.01 miles in 47'26", 9:27 min/mile pace. I wore black UA tights and this super cute Nike jersey-like shirt that matches my shoes (white and light blue). I went earlier than usual (8:30) and it was super packed. Luckily though I scored my favorite type of treadmill, the kind with the built in fan.
I feel a little lost right now because I don't really have a plan. I have an abstract idea of what I want to do this year - I know I want to run a marathon and at least 2 halfs. I also want to do a trail race at some point. But outside of just saying I want to do these things I dont have any action plan. I really need to develop a training schedule that I can get into and follow. I keep telling myself I need to do some research and plan out the next few months but I havent been able to find the time. Hopefully now that the holidays are really over, visiting friends have left town and the work chaos surrounding our move has finally begun to die down maybe I can steal some time to think.
All of this is further complicated by Kristen (my RP) being out of commission with her knee. :(

Non running note, scary visit to the Vet today with Chloe. There is a possibility that she could be very ill. We will find out tomorrow. I dont know what I will do if she is.

Meh, going to sleep now.

No training Thursday or Friday this week. Thursday I planned to be off, had to meet up for happy hour with Amanda since her time in NYC is almost over again:( I planned to run Friday night but was exhausted. Im not much of a going out person these days and to have multiple nights of heavier drinking (Thurs-Sat-Tues-Thurs) is rough. I did join that new gym friday though. We will have to wait and see how that goes.

Today I woke up and it looked gorgeous outside, sun was shining. It was misleading though as the temp was 27 degrees, 19 with windchill. I bundled up in my warm Nike tights, white tank, black pullover top, and then a dark grey zip up, black headband and gloves. I also stole evans neck warmer/hood. When I stepped out and stood around waiting for garmin to link to the satelites I was afraid that I might be dressed too warmly and almost went back to drop off one of the long sleeved shirts but I'm glad I didn't. I went for my usual 4 mile loop, down along the water near the park and then back up.
garmin recorded 35'50", 4.12 miles, 8:42 pace. avg HR 159bpm, max 175bpm.
looking at a graph of the data it looks like the HR was fairly steady and was creeping into the 170s towards the end. Im sad to say that I dont know enough about this to know really what it means but I think it might be high. Need to research that.
ipod has 37'12", 8:29 pace, 4.38 miles. The difference in time is that the garmin will auto pause when im stopped at a streetlight.

Chloe really doesnt want me to write this post

Poor kitty is lonely today. Since I walked in tonight she has been all over me. She keeps grabbing my hand with her paw so I will pet her, its the sweetest thing.

Catching up the last few days:

Tuesday I did cross training on the elliptical at the gym (30 min)

Wednesday was a rest day due to a dinner out catching up with my old roomie. Went to an awesome place in the UES with all you can eat sushi/drinking. Too bad it was only Tuesday. I contemplated waking up early and heading out for a run before work but I was too exhausted and instead was late.

As a result of last nights activities I was exhausted all day today as well and it made tonights mild run hard. I did 4 miles on the treadmill at the gym. Ipod stats are 4.01miles in 36'40", at 9:07 pace. I've decided I'm going to also keep tracking of what I wear when running. Some might say this is super lame but to me happy clothes are a big part of being happy. And running outfits are no different to me. So today I wore black UA tights, a NYY World Series champs tshirt and a grey sports bra.

The gym tonight was surprisingly (and happily) empty. Before I went to my current one, I stopped into check out another gym my friend wants me to join with her which is shockingly cheap. I could go to this particular gym until August for less than the cost of this next month at my gym. That is insane and really doesnt even make sense. When she told me this I figured it was probably too good to be true so I went to check it out. Honestly I was horrified by the place. I had the most pathetic tour with the most disinterested sales person ever. She had zero interest in whether I joined up or not. I guess the price just sells its self. The place was packed, which isnt really surprising considered its the first week in January and most people are still holding on to the new years resolution. All things considered though, I might still join. I rarely ever work out during peak hours and most of the crowd will be gone by march. Ill sleep on it I guess.

Tomorrow is another off day for me so see you on Friday.

New Year, New Blog

Happy 2010. Hard to believe another year is over.

I've wanted to start this blog for awhile now, to have a place to write about my runs and keep track of data and my goals. 2009 marked a year where I finally started getting back into running after taking essentially 6 years off. In high school, running was my life and there was nothing I loved more. But then I went away to college in 2002 and things changed. However I am glad to be back and have even surprised myself this past year by doing a half marathon with my BFF Kristen. I'm looking forward to 2010 being the best running year ever, training harder and smarter and doing at least one marathon.

I want to set some official goals, but I still need to think it over some.

Today was my first run of the new year. It was extremely frigid, 20 degrees with a biting wind but it felt good. My new baby garmin says I did 3.51 miles in 31.18 which is 8:55 pace. (My nikeplus says 3.74 miles.) Unfortunately I forgot the heart rate monitor so no data there. Im still learning how to use it. Ive seen other blogs where people upload charts and graphs and I want to be able to do that. I also need to figure out how to use the HR to my training advantage.

The BF is home now and is pressuring me to play Wii with him so I'm signing off.